Peace, of a sort

I am going to go out on a limb here and say, very tentatively, that I think we have turned a corner with R. Last night getting her to bed was dreadful, but then she slept all night in her own bed, something that hasn't happened for nearly a week now. This morning was once again, dreadful, but she was able to come back from the abyss and had a fairly normal day. This would be a fantastic Christmas present if she could maintain baseline over the holidays. So that was positive... after a while.

On top of the positive trend with R., I have to say that this is most relaxed I've felt on December 23 since I had children. I keep wondering what major thing I have forgotten, but can't think of anything. I guess it is the combination of paring down holiday obligations to a manageable amount combined with children who have pretty much become extremely capable. 

This afternoon, D. helped wrapped some gifts for me while I sat and read my mystery novel. (Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz which was actually a lot of fun especially having just read an Agatha Christie book.) When I finally made it downstairs for lunch, I discovered that the non-wrapping children had cleaned the entire first floor and it looked lovely. This was doubly nice since I had not specifically asked any of them to do that. There was even time to have teatime and finish our read aloud book. (the third Incorrigables book which I highly recommend.)

So, heading into Christmas Eve, the gifts are all wrapped, I finished two books today, except for buying fried rice tomorrow, the errands are all done, and the final Christmas movie is going to be watched tonight. (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The movie is fun, but if you've never read the book, you really should.) All I have to do before the candlelight service at church is to make cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning and pie for Jesus' birthday celebration tomorrow night (no cake for Jesus this year), and to get the table set for dinner. That seems pretty reasonable.